Monday, March 11, 2013

While my favorite yarn thing to do is knitting, there is quick pleasure in crocheting. I find it is much quicker, and more varied - you can do a lot more with it in terms of detail work. I made my hat not long ago, and if I sat down and did it all at once, it probably would have taken about 6 hours. I've also done some fun work, like this octopus for Smith

and this jellyfish for my dad (their beach house!)

So Tate's birthday was on the horizon, and right now, there is nothing she likes more than horses. I ravelry-ed and etsy-ed amigurumi horses and found just about the cutest horse ever, Alfalfa, by Little Abbee. I couldn't stand it, I figured if I can do an octopus and a jellyfish, this isn't rocket science, I could figure this out, too. And I had about 3 weeks to do it.

Here are some horse parts:

And here, in all his glory, is Magical Wonder, so named by the birthday girl herself. I never know with the kids what they will or will not "get." I make things (hats, scarves, octopi) that I like to make, and if they get excited, that thrills me. If they don't, I (hopefully) don't show it, because they didn't ask for whatever I made. Well, Tate keeps saying she can't believe I made this, and she just loves it.

Hopefully this took the sting out of not getting a real horse...which was her true birthday wish!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Went to visit my favorite niece last weekend - in Pittsburgh! She had a dance performance at her college, and we hadn't been to visit yet. We saw her dorm room, where she eats, where she dances, etc. It was great fun. It was also really fun to walk around Pittsburgh - I think I must have gone there as a child, but have no memory of it. The kids and I had a blast - the hotel room was gorgeous, big breakfast (bagels! donuts! COFFEE!), seeing my niece, killing time by going around the town, then the amazing dance performance! We went up the incline, walked over a bridge or two, saw a cool art exhibit, had lunch at Chipotle. Her dance was just amazing - there were five performances, all told a story, each being about 20ish minutes. Hers was en pointe (is that correct?) - she is just such a beautiful dancer, makes it look so easy and fun. Like she is having so much fun. I think I've gushed about her before...ditto on her amazingness.

Some pictures of our whirlwind trip - started at 7pm Friday night and got home at 8pm Saturday night!